Returning officer John Painter is taking early retirement after 27 years service with Reading Borough Council

The man who has presided over Reading elections, investigated postal voting fraud and warned about the state of the Civic Centre is to take early retirement.

Head of central administration at Reading Borough Council John Painter, who has been with the council for 27 years, will take flexible early retirement from the end of July. This means he will still be at the helm for the borough elections in May.

His decision is the subject of a report to the full council meeting today which describes how his role will be redistributed.

The report also mentions how the council’s director of resources David Peasley will also be taking flexible early retirement from February 28 but will resume his role as director of resources from March 1, under different terms and conditions of service.

Mr Painter has been one of the more colourful council officers – turning in lively reports on the dismal failings of election technology on a regular basis.

He also provides expert advice to councillors on the legality and probity of their activities – sifting through the complexities of the council’s standing orders to keep the elected members in line.

He recently received praise from opposition councillor Tony Page for his decision to allow queuing voters to cast their votes in Coley Park.

There were stories all over the country of returning officers who ruled that the polling station doors should be shut at 10pm, leaving people standing outside, unable to vote.

But Mr Painter, who has been returning officer since 2004, made the more sensible decision to tell the electoral staff to let the queue inside the polling station and then shut the door – so everyone waiting in the queue was allowed to vote. At the same election last May, Mr Painter had to preside over six parallel counts – an exercise which cost £325,000 and involved 750 staff.

Running borough and national elections on the same day – with the Westminster constituencies crossing borough boundaries – added to the complexity of the count.

But the increase in the number of postal votes and the need to check the validity of each vote to avoid fraud had been a subject Mr Painter has commented vigorously on in recent years.

Last year before the elections he warned that more than 1,000 postal votes could be lost through voters missing deadlines or not following the process correctly – far more than those votes suspected of fraud.

In 2008 he led the investigation into a number of suspected fraudulent postal votes in Redlands ward.

He has also spoken out on the state of the Civic Centre, warning councillors of their responsibility to keep the building safe in the light of risks from asbestos and the Legionalla bacteria.

The council will be asked to agree that the role of monitoring officer, returning officer and electoral registration officer will be taken over by Christopher Brooks, head of legal services, from August 1.